The man behind the kidnapping and beheading of a French hiker in September was killed in a military operation, Algeria's Ministry of Defense said, according to the Associated Press.
Abdelmalek Gouri and two associates were killed late Monday near Boumerdes, a city east of Algeria's capital. Gouri was the leader of a group called Jund al-Khilafah, which was loyal to the Islamic State in Syria.
French hiker Herve Gourdel was kidnapped in the Djurdjura mountains in September. The Algerian militiants said they were giving French President Francois Holland 24 hours to stop airstrikes on ISIS or Gourdel would be executed. After the demands were not met, Gourdel was executed on video.